City News Blog

This is the official blog of the City of Lakeland, Florida. Check back frequently to stay up to date with all that going on in our beautiful city!

Hamrick Named Director of Human Resources

Tommy Hamrick was named Director of Human Resources for the City of Lakeland. This is a newly created position that uses one Director to oversee Employee Relations and Civil Service.

The appointment of Hamrick as Director of Human Resources and the consolidation of two Departments within the City is part of a global streamlining effort by City Manager Doug Thomas. “We have been working toward a goal to improve efficiencies within this area for some time,” said Thomas. “Employee Relations and Civil Service have historically been two separate Departments with some overlap of responsibilities and both performed a number of parallel functions. This consolidation also involved the negotiation and approval of a Shared Services Agreement with the Civil Service Board.”

Hamrick will be responsible for the administrative and professional work in planning, directing and coordinating the City's central Human Resources program that includes civil service functions. Hamrick said, “I am honored to have been selected as the City’s inaugural Director of Human Resources. My education, training and experience, coupled with the empowerment of a true HR Department, will enable us to create a more effective and efficient system for managing the municipality’s employees.”

Thomas said, “Tommy has been serving as the Director of Civil Service and he has been overseeing employee relations for the past several months after the retirement of the previous Director.” He added, “His proven track record along with his shared vision of a consolidated Human Resources Department played a significant role in the hiring process.”

Hamrick has been with the City of Lakeland since October 2004. He has functioned as Civil Service Director as well intermittent duties as the Director of Retirement Services. He has a diverse background in human resources with experience across the United States and abroad with companies such as EME, Siemens and FMHI. Hamrick graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and he received his Master’s Degree from the University of Central Florida in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

He is a member of the International Personnel Management Association, the International Personnel Assessment Council and the Society for Human Resource Management. He is recognized by Human Resource Certification Institute and holds qualifications from the Florida Public Pension Trustee Association. He is also a Certified Public Manager.

Hamrick has lived in Lakeland since 2001 with his wife Marcy who currently works in human resources for Publix Super Markets. He and his wife have three children: Tommy Jr. (8), Ian (5), and Molly (2). He is 43 years old and his annual salary as Human Resources Director is $110,000 per year.